'Touch' preview ratings solid, 'American Idol' slips

Fox’s series premiere of Kiefer Sutherland’s Touch had a promising preview Wednesday night, but the second week of American Idol slipped.

Touch opened to 11.9 million viewers and a 3.9 rating in the adult demo, while its lead-in, Idol, had 19.5 million viewers and a 6.4 rating – down 14 percent from last week’s two-hour season premiere (though only down about 7 percent from last week’s 8 p.m. hour).

Touch marks the highest retention (on a percentage basis) of a drama debuting after Idol, and is the second-biggest premiere for a new drama this season. Also keep in mind Glee once delivered a somewhat unspectacular rating in its post-Idol preview, then eventually became a hit for the network. Touch doesn’t officially premiere until March.

Fox’s shows may have been helped by ABC running repeats across the board. Meanwhile CBS had the 150th episode of Criminal Minds (13.7 million, 3.6) and Marg Helgenberger’s final episode of CSI (14 million, 3.3). The latter hit a season high. On NBC, Whitney (4.5 million, 1.4) and Are You There, Chelsea? (3.9 million, 1.4) struggled. The CW’s One Tree Hill (1.5 million, 0.7) was steady.